Sunsets And Car Crashes
by o.OchantelO.o
Summary: Picks up right after the screen goes black after the series finale.
1. Chapter 1

**Sunsets and Car Crashes**

_I don't own anything. Popular belongs to Ryan Murphy and co. so here's hoping no one sues o.O! The title is a Spill Canvas song. Also not mine  
This is meant to be an ongoing fic, lemme know what you think.  
Set to pick up right after the series finale._

* * *

Sam's feet thundered against the pavement with the same force that pulsed through her heart. Tires screeched and the air was thick as she ran towards the blonde woman who stood in the middle of the street. Sam didn't know who was driving, or why Brooke had stumbled out into the street in the stupor she had, and she didn't have time to notice anything else around her. The only feelings and thoughts inside her revolved solely around Brooke and getting her out of the way of the car that sped towards her.

Brooke walked hazily into the street unaware of anything aside from the pounding inside her chest. She was overwhelmed with emotions and couldn't do anything except will her feet to continue to move. When she heard Sam scream her name, she turned to face her. However, instead of meeting the warm brown eyes she had expected to see, she was faced with two bright orbs. A paralysing light fell over her. All Brooke could do was scream.

Sam felt the metal of Nicole's front hood against her. She felt the heat of her body rolling over the pavement, felt the pebbles dig into her skin and felt her insides contract within her. She felt the cement burn up and down her exposed legs, and could smell the steam from the tire marks that laid mere inches from her bloodied face. But as Sam McPherson cast her eyes to the blonde that was now starting to become aware of her surroundings, she found herself feeling no pain at all; only relief that the woman who had fled from her only moments ago was relatively unharmed and okay. She was filled with a comfort she hadn't felt since the last time that her father had held her in his arms. And with that, her world was flooded with black.

She didn't register that a body had tackled her. She couldn't feel herself begin to shake with fear, or feel the cement that met her face when she fell. Brooke was only able to gasp for the air that had been knocked out of her lungs. Lying on the pavement she opened her eyes, it took all of five seconds for her to realize that she hadn't been hit. Confused by the lack of death on her part she whipped her head around viciously in an attempt to take in everything that happened in the last five minutes of her life. She searched the scene trying to fit pieces together, her eyes stopped on the brunette laying a few feet away from her.  
Everything inside of her flared and somehow she found herself at Sam's side.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Brooke gasped. She wanted to reach out and hold the trembling woman that lay before her but as fast as her hands moved towards Sam's body, she pulled them back. There was so much blood surrounding Sam and her eyes lidded to the point of almost being shut completely. "Oh God, oh God, oh God. Sam?" she cried praying to God and every entity that existed that Sam would respond. "Sammy?" she resisted the urge to shake the girl. "Sammy, please? Answer me. I know you can answer me, c'mon"

Brooke reached out and cleared the hair and blood from Sam's face. "Sam! Wake up!" she screamed, noting that more blood began to flow from the wound on Sam's head. Brooke didn't know what to do. Sam laid before her, barely breathing and obviously broken. Tears flowed down her face, but she didn't notice them. Nor did she notice the crowd behind her, Harrison running and fumbling for a phone, or Nicole stumbling drunkenly out of the car that had crashed into a fire hydrant after pummelling through the street earlier.

Frantically, Brooke ran her hands over Sam's body trying to grasp in some simple way whether she was hurt there or not. Finding nothing she was looking for Brooke gathered Sam into her arms and cradled her there repeatedly begging the unconscious girl to open her eyes.

Harrison made his way over to Brooke, his face a mirror of panic. "Brooke! Oh my God! What happened?! Sam!! Is she okay? She's not moving!" His head snapped around at the sound of sirens racing to their aid. "She's not moving!!" He shouted, running over to the paramedics to lead them over to Sam. He too began the same mantra as Brooke.

"What happened here?" One of the paramedics asked Harrison. He could only shake his head. "She's not moving!" he repeated, staring at the blood that surrounded his best friend's face and the unnatural way that her body had landed on the ground. "She," he had to paused to suck in a quick gasp of air "she's hurt.."

Brooke had remained unmoved by Sam's side and didn't take her eyes off of the girl in her arms when the paramedics came over.

"Miss we need you to let her go" one of them spoke to her but she could hardly make sense of the words that were entering her head.

"Miss. Look. You're in shock okay. We need to help your friend and if you want us to do that then we need you to move okay?"

Brooke felt a fog being lifted from her mind and she moved away from Sam slightly so that the paramedics could begin to access the damage done to her body. She watched silently as they began procedures she didn't understand and made movements she couldn't fathom. "Help her" were the only words that left her mouth. Another tear made it's way down her face as she stared down at the woman who had taken the hit for her.

Sam's eyes were now wide open, she was awake and though she made no effort to move, her face screamed of the pain that had no doubt enveloped her entire body. Sam's face was blank, she didn't move or blink. She just stared as she gasped hollowly for air. The she began to shake.

"Sam!" Brooke stepped forward when she saw Sam start to convulse. Trying to reach out to her, another paramedic stopped Brooke before she could touch Sam. "Miss! Please! Let her go"

"Let her.. go?.. Let…I haven't even!.. I.." The words came out strangled and hard. She started breathing hard and her heart knotted in her chest. Brooke's world had crumbled in the thirty seconds it had taken Sam to push her out of the way of the car. Staring down at Sam, Brooke felt her heart break and in the instant that everything logical came crashing down onto her "Let her.." Brooked trailed off , she felt everything inside of her burn and turn to ash. Her stomach dropped, breath caught, and eyes rolled into the back of her head. She was out before she started to fall, and for the second time that night Brooke McQueen hit the pavement with a hard thud.

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_So what do you think? Any and all feedback would be appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

She opened her eyes to blinding brightness and was paralysed with fear until she realized that it was light bulbs that faced her. She was momentarily stunned and took in her surroundings. White floors, white sheets, silver metal, a cold sterile smell filled her soul and she was met with a deadening silence that was interrupted only by a series of mechanical beeps. Brooke sat up quickly realizing she was in a hospital. She moved too fast for her body to compensate though, and she soon found herself laying back down dazed and dizzy. When her head hit the pillow a memory of her head hitting pavement flashed behind her eyes. It was followed by the sight of Sam's body

Her eyes snapped open and time stood still. Pavement replaced the floors, there were no sheets. The sterile smell turned into burning rubber, chaos drifted through her ear drums. And the silver metal was burning hot against her skin. Brooke shook violently. Her stomach turned and she wretched over the side of her bed.

Almost instantly there was someone at her side. Brooke couldn't control the violent heaves of her body, nor could she control the tears that had started clouding her vision. Her skin was covered in sweat but she felt cold.

"Someone get a doctor in here!!!"

And then there were arms.

Holding her down. Pinning her to the pavement, forcing her to feel the burn of the tire treads and inhale the steam that rose from the friction of the rubber.

She thrashed against her attackers screaming out for them to stop. This wasn't the hospital, this was hell.

Thick straps fastened her feet and arms down and she felt a tear in her arm.

A fire filled her veins until her eyes were forced shut.

She fell into unconsciousness with her scream still strangling her throat.

* * *

"Brooke?" a voice whispered. "Brooke it's okay. Everything is all right. I'm

here. Just try to stay calm"

Eyes scratched against eyelids until after an agonizingly long moment, her heavy lids lifted. "Sam?" her voice scratched out "Sammy?"

"No baby, it's Dad" her eyes finally focused on the man beside her bed.

"Hey" he smiled "There's my girl" His eyes were watery.

"I.. what happened? Where's Sam?" she asked while struggling to sit up.

A shadow crossed Mikes face at the mention of the brunettes name. "Honey, there was an accident.. Sam.." he swallowed a large lump in his throat "Sam got hurt pretty bad. She's in a different room right now. Jane is in there with her"

"But she's okay?" Brooke asked barely giving her father time to finish his sentence.

Mike was silent.

"Daddy?… Daddy!?"

"Brookie you should calm down. Let's just focus on you right now okay? You shouldn't be stressing yourself right now okay"

"He's right you know. You're lucky to be here right now"

Just then the doctor walked in. Mike stood and shook the mans hand. "Dr. Ismal" he said in greeting. The doctor nodded.

Brooke laid back on her pillow and listened to her doctor diagnose her problems. Thoughts of Sam ran through her mind and she was unable to focus on anything but the thought of her brown haired hero and her last vision of her. Her body was broken, her face was bloodied but her eyes were so alive when they were open. There was fire in them. Brooke prayed that she would be able to stare into that fire again. The mention of Sam broke her out of her thoughts.

"There are some things your wife would like to discuss with you. About your other daughter if you would like to follow me to the other room" Dr. Ismal was speaking to Mike now.

"What about Sam?!" Brooke asked anxiously. She received two pairs of eyes on her.

Each man looked at her with the same expression and Brooke had to do a double take.

"Guys! What about Sam? I need to know! Is she okay? Did she wake up?! When will I be able to see her?!

"Brooke" the doctor began after a nod from Mike " your sister suffered severe internal injury. She broke three bones in her legs, shattered her collar bone, bruised her spine and fractured her skull" He paused.

Brooke took all the information in. She pictured Sam laying scared and in pain.

"I need to see her" she whispered.

"Brooke. She's in a lot of pain. But that.." her father paused

"That's not the worst of it" Dr. Ismal finished for him.

Brooke gasped. 'how could there possibly be more?'

"When Sam collided with the car, her ribs cracked. Two of them splinted off and punctured her lungs. One of them.. hit her heart."

Brookes jaw dropped. Her heart stopped. Sweat formed on her face, and she started to shake. Her skin turned white and her eyes went wide. "What do you mean.. it hit her heart?" She asked very slowly, afraid of the answer that she was about to get.

"She is stable right now Brooke" the doctor began " we isolated the problem. Your sister is strong. There was a considerable amount of damage as you can imagine. It's a miracle that the puncture didn't kill her with the strain that her body is under."

Tears brimmed Brookes eyes and she felt a deep ache within her soul. Words were starting to fail her. Each syllable was a like a knife wound to her chest, she thought with a wry smile. 'A wound like Sams..'

(Two hearts, together, as one)

Dr. Ismal continued his prognosis. "We were able to stop some of the swelling that was occurring around her heart so that has taken some of the strain off of her. We can't operate on her until she gains some of her strength back though and that's where the problem lies.."

Brooke could only mummer a small 'stop' . Her father and her doctor looked at her with sad eyes. "I think that's all I can hear for right now. Thank you Dr. Ismal."

The doctor nodded. "You on the other hand are well on your way to a healthy recovery" he smiled to emphasize the optimism in his words.

(One more slice through the left ventricle)

Brooke forced a smile.

"You hit your head pretty hard. We found some swelling around but were able to relieve it surprisingly easy. As well you strained a number of muscles in your arm. All things that will heal in their right time. We're going to keep you for observation for a few days on account of the head trauma. Standard procedure, you understand, also we'd like you to speak with one of our on hand psychiatric nurses. Again, standard procedure. Now that you're awake again I'm going to have one of the nurses run one more CT scan just to be on the safe side.."

Dr. Ismal continued talking. His focus shifted from Brooke to her father and her focus shifted from him to the shredding inside her heart. How could this have happened?

She remembered back to minutes before anything had happened.

Sam had been stunning. Her eyes had been warm and passionate, her voice slick like honey against Brookes jaded soul; filling in the spaces and fusing her back together.

Harrison had chosen her. He had been an idiot. So focused on a dream that he didn't see the beauty of his reality. She should have been happy. Rejoiced at the fact that she wouldn't have to see Sam smiling at someone else. Instead she had reacted by running away.

"This isn't what I wanted"

It echoed in her mind now. Reverberating against every cell inside and around her. Ripples of guilt, shame, and fear growing with each step she saw herself make in her mind.

The brief touch of Sam's hand against her own.

Sand on glass, smoothing her edges away, leaving nothing left of the sharp sting that Harrison's words had brought on.

(Skin to skin. Heart to heart. Soul to soul)

She closed her eyes.

Tears escaped though her lids just the same. Liquid fire grating against her.

'Sam..'

The words trapped behind her lips.

The love inside them trapped in her broken heart.


End file.
